“I’m glad you called. Ellis had a great weekend. We really should come out more often.”
“It’s so far for you both that I never want to ask.”
I shake my head, smiling. “I want Ellis to know this place. It’s important to me that he has somewhere other than the apartment.” Not that I’d turn my nose up at what we have now, but I always wanted a little house on the outskirts of the city. Somewhere homely.
“He doesn’t know any different” —she waves me off— “and he has this place and Maggie and John’s, and I know the Montgomerys think of him as one of their own.” She places her finger on the end of his nose. “You, little man, are more loved than you’ll ever know.”
“He really is,” I snigger.
“Car’s loaded. Do you want me to take him?” Vinny asks from behind me, speaking to Scarlet.
“No! He’s mine for another five minutes.” She walks past us and out onto the front terrace.
I can see the annoyance on Vinny’s face. He’s been itching for a cuddle since he got here. “You can stay for tea tonight, Vin. If you want to.”
“That’s okay, I don’t want to intrude.”
He’s always been too polite for his own good. “I have Maggie and John coming over, I know they’d love to see you.”
He grins, perking up instantly. “John’s coming across? It’s the champions league final.”
“Yep.”
The two of them hit it off the minute John discovered Vinny to be a Tottenham fan. Vinny drove me out to the house one Sunday, and once he was invited in, that was it, he became my companion to all Sunday lunches at the Morgan’s.
I shake my head, helping to put the last of the bags into the boot. “Scar, we need to get back, I need to stop for supplies!” I call to her, feeling bad but knowing I have plenty to catch up on at home.
* * *
I’m leantacross the kitchen island watching as the boys sit on the edge of their seats. As always, my week hosting Sunday lunch for Maggie and John turned into feeding the five thousand. First Vinny, who I welcomed in, but then the hungover trio rock up, Lucy, Elliot and Lance.
I love them all, but they turn up, eat my food and leave. Which leaves me and Maggie in the kitchen to clean up the mess.
“Pass it!!!” John yells, red-faced. “Fucking shit—”
“John!” Maggie hisses from her spot next to me at the kitchen island. She nods towards Ellis who is watching John in wonder as he sits on the floor, happily chewing his fist.
“He doesn’t pass it, Mags!” he explains to her, as if it will make it okay.
“Yes! Yes! Yaaasssss! Get in there, you beauties!” Elliot jumps up, getting in John and Vinny’s faces in celebration.
“Stop shouting, please,” Lucy groans from the sofa, where she’s curled up with a blanket feeling sorry for herself.
“Sit down, you fool. You’re still losing,” Vinny tells Elliot.
“Just wait, old man.”
“How’s it been leaving Ellis? You seem to be settling into work well?” Maggie asks me, passing me the stack of dishes she’s finished drying.
“Good. It’s nice to have the independence and be able to pay for this place. I can’t say I love it at the hotel though.”
She nods in understanding; she knows it’s not the job I want. “And Mason, it still works for him to have the time off work?”
I smile to myself as I carefully place the plates in the cupboard. The thing with Maggie is she cares, probably more than anyone else, and she wants to be a part of our lives. But she isn’t pushy. She’ll let us know she’s here, and that she will help us, but she won’t force it. It’s what I love about her.
“I think it works. It gives them more time together in the week too.”
“That’s good.” She picks up a tray from the drainer.
